2 December 2024 06:58 am Views - 382
SYDNEY, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected at a poultry farm in New Zealand's South Island, authorities said on Monday, the first time the island nation has reported a highly pathogenic variant of avian influenza.
Tests showed a rural chicken farm in the Otago region identified the H7N6 subtype, Biosecurity New Zealand said in a statement. It is not the H5N1 type that has spread globally and raised fears of human transmission.
"We are taking the find seriously ... our testing shows it is unrelated to a H7 strain that was identified in Australia earlier this year," an official said.